The Rehearsal - Nathan Fielder - HBO

Nathan's mother is not Lori Petty.

I did say was thinking so like past tense.
Hadn't realised Lori Petty was Tank Girl when I saw her in more recent things

Would add another layer if the parents turned out to be actors too though.
LIke is the entire thing about supposed representations of the 'real' anyway.
Or is it just an existential comedy show about like epistemology like.

mental tricks, optical illusions and basic desperation.
& desolation.

Doing magic tricks is reportedly part of Fielder's origin story. Not only does he do a trick to break the ice in at least one episode of Nathan for You, I've read a profile or two where he does a trick to break the ice with a reporter. So sleight of hand and optical illusions are really his thing, the existential/epistemology stuff is like the exploration of illusion in a narrative context.

From that Slate piece I linked to:

The rehearsals themselves apparently parallel ideas from both Kabbalistic study and Jewish midrash, although it’s doubtful that Nathan the character is aware of this. (As for Fielder the writer-director, whom the Forward likens to “a Kabbalistically imagined Jewish God”—who can say?) But they’re rooted in a simple secular precept: Life comes down to a handful of decisive moments, and how you fare in those crucial moments determines whether you will succeed or fail. Nathan tells the actors he’s teaching the Fielder Method that the slightest misstep on their part “could ruin someone’s life,” a line repeated by the actor he hires to play himself. But it finds its most poignant expression in the second episode, “Scion,” when Nathan takes on the role of co-parenting Adam. “It’s scary to imagine raising a child,” he reflects, “when you always know that a single misstep on your part could ruin their entire life.”

And later:

He’s so invested in the idea of narrowing life to a series of predictable, and therefore manageable, possibilities that he hasn’t grasped a basic truth: No matter how much you practice, you will never be ready. What matters most is the ability to accept imperfection, in yourself as well as in others. You will make terrible mistakes, and suffer the consequences: marriages end, people die, things that should have been said never are. But if mistakes were permanent, Angela would still be “standing on the corner drinking 40’s” and not taking part in Nathan’s bizarre experiment. The most important lesson the religious instructor teaches Nathan has nothing to do with Judaism. It’s when he asks if she wants to rehearse her confrontation with Angela and she tells him she prefers to “shoot from the hip.”

So, presuming an at least somewhat scripted/predetermined end is in sight, it becomes an even more complex moral puzzle box: a (somewhat) scripted story of a man playing a version of himself rehearsing scenes based on real scenes (that may also be scripted) about choosing what paths (scripts) we follow and learning (through rehearsal?) that the most honest/"real" path is possibly the one that is unscripted.

I’ve heard him talk in interviews about his love of magic and how it was a good social crutch for him as an awkward young adult, a way of having controlled & manageable social interactions. “Do you want to see a magic trick?”, then you do the trick, you both talk about the trick, the interaction is going to remain within very predictable guidelines.

This show is insane and I love it.

"I hadn't been to a synagogue for years, because it's so boring"

irl loled at that line.

keeping my finger hovering over the "is this antisemitism" ilx thread, ready to click, as Angela explains to Nathan why she wouldn't want her child to learn about judaism

miriam would love that thread

keeping my finger hovering over the "is this antisemitism" ilx thread, ready to click, as Angela explains to Nathan why she wouldn't want her child to learn about judaism

or as she talked about the camerawork of her favorite director

of course miriam really managed to get more racist than angela, in a classic twist ending

not that much of a twist if you've spend much time around people like her

fuck yeah

https://pitchfork.com/news/nathan-fielder-the-rehearsal-gets-second-season-at-hbo/

one of my favorite music shows, "getting asked for an encore"

Ok how can it even go from here? This season seems like a culmination of everything Fielder has done.

crossover episode specials with big brother and the bachelor

Nathan Fielder....will you accept this rose?

Fielder: .....okay.

Uhhhh….holy fuck. Dunno how to process that

Not gonna spoil it but wow that was a great direction to go in

Wow

Great finale, it felt like it should be the series finale. So I'm surprised but delighted to get another season, wonder where it will go next

Awwww man

My grandson Remy is going to be in this somewhere… but which episode(s)? :) He still recognizes you on TV! Lol

— JayTee (@girlTaylor) July 16, 2022

Nathan: What do friends do?
Remy: Nothing

ugh, this episode is a gut punch

Absolutely loved this series and looking forward to watching it again (since almost every bit, apart from some purely humorous moments, seemed to have a purpose in the whole thing, even if it might not have been apparent at first). A few thoughts...
1. The very end (dialog between Liam and Nathan, dressed as Remy and Remy's mother Amber) felt scripted. 2. Regarding the part where Liam corrects Nathan, saying that he thought he was acting as Amber rather than as "Nathan as fake father" at that moment, and Nathan replies that he was being the father - my take-away is that Nathan is saying that being a father (or his idea of a good father) would involve something like going the extra mile to do something as unconventional as dressing up like someone's mother and rehearsing an interaction. 3. My favorite twist was learning that Liam (9-year-old version of Adam) and Nathan's visit to Remy and Amber wasn't solely to check on Remy's well-being (i.e. not pining for Nathan to be his father) but also was so that Liam and Nathan could do acting research on Remy and Amber. It seemed a little selfish at first, but Amber and Nathan's conversation about Amber being sure that Remy would be ok reassured Nathan. And then there's Nathan and Angela's conversation about forgiveness. So ultimately, that final conversation between Liam and Nathan is partially about Nathan forgiving himself for deceiving/confusing Remy, making him think Nathan was his father.

Loved the finale. Nathan finally felt like a father. Also, he roped all the set & costume designers into using the Fielder Method.

“He’s a weird guy isn’t he?”

Classic line. Those little moments of “actually we have some self-awareness about all of this” are the breath of fresh air every episode needs to keep this a comedy and not some try-hard Synecdoche New York TV knock off.

This episode was so child-like because Nathan’s rehearsals are actually an extremely effective empathetic tool. Really that is this shows strength, it’s ability to present with the separation of “art” the emotions that people move through. I found as Nathan was talking to Remy towards the end when Remy was sad I was incredibly sad, when he was laughing I was laughing. I need to think more on how this all is, but I left impressed with how Nathan was able to manipulate me through his rehearsals (manipulation of scenario’s being the proposed key agenda of this project).

Amazing show

Wondering how normative Nathan 's behaviour is to the children he's working with. Like seemed he was being really manipulative in some of his behaviour towards the 6 year old and demonstrating that to the 9 year old. & hoping that wouldn't be behaviour that the 9 year old would think was ok in future.
Just seemed like it was being treated like behaviour was one stage removed from real when it might be picked up as real and repeated as though it was normal/accepted.

Not sure how behaviour would be picked up by 9 year old or on by 9 year old.
The difference between acting and real behaviour and acceptable and unacceptable behaviour seems hazy.
But the weirdness of having children brought into the idea of 'rehearsal' for life decisions seems bizarre anyway. Like they are just implements/tools instead of people.
& Im just wondering about levels of cognition and possible trauma etc.
Very odd and presumably actual participation is less than presented anyway. Though how many takes and rehearsal something like this takes must factor in too.
Like there is a reality to the making of this pseudo reality TV show. Which involves minors in a way that might be questionable.

The idea of consent surely involves having some understanding. & I'm just wondering if some of those involved are mature enough to give consent.
Not to reduce the intelligence of children but I do wonder if they are old enough to understand a situation to be a stage removed from it.
Like Remy acting that he thinks Nathan is daddy. Wondering what one does understand at 6 and what is going to take away from a situation consciously or subconsciously. Seems to be doing things possibly a little too realistically.

I have absolutely no idea what to make of this. All I know is that the words my my wife used to describe it, when prompted, were totally not the words I would have used to describe it, which maybe gets at ... I don't know what it gets at.

Why was the "brief nudity" listed in the ratings details?

Nathan's ass crack at the very end

Why was the "brief nudity" listed in the ratings details?

i didn't notice that, but i do remember that the very final shot was of nathan's buttcrack

it was scandalous. i can no longer go about my everyday life without being disturbed by it

Hey, spoilers!

(That was an xp to the ass crack reveal)

the crack changes everything

the crack says this line which is witty but also clearly scripted

can’t stop wondering what the final shot tells us about season 2

even after rewatching it, i still have no idea what happened. i am the worst watcher of this show

my first thought was that he had adopted Remy, or at least agreed to continue pretending to be his dad.

i know that's not right. i'm just mentioning it to make clear what a gigantic dumbass i am

The subtext, I think, (maybe not so sub), is Nathan working through his divorce, the fallout from his failed relationship and missed chance at having a family of his own. That and his admitted difficulty relating to people and experiencing what they experience. In the end, he does both.

yeah nathan becomes emotionally able / available to be a father through the process of rehearsing, thus shrugging off his damaged past

Him rehearsing as Remy's mom does make me think that could be expanded as a whole season: rehearsing as different people in his own life

Wasn't he divorced almost a decade ago? Seems like a somewhat obscure subtext to explore in this show, the not very well known Fielder working through a 10-year old divorce to someone we've never met and even he rarely talks about. I admittedly have seen a lot of think pieces about this show hinging on Fielder, the real person, but I think The Rehearsal works better as a broader, more general exploration of emotional truth and reality vs. literal truth and reality, vis a vis acting, an almost alchemic process that transforms fiction and lies - that is, pretending - into a heightened "real," where the emotional truth achieved through acting/lying can become as or more powerful than actual reality. (I know very little philosophy, but I'm sure this has been explored in a tome or two.) Regardless, this show is so rich and multi-faceted that I feel it's barely dipped below its many surfaces. And I fear likely won't or can't go much deeper, before it ends or is cancelled, but I'm not sure it matters, since vagueness and ambiguity works to its advantage.

Incidentally, there was a lot of talk about Richard Brody's dismissal of this in the New Yorker, but I am curious what certain naysayers like he thought about the finale, which absolutely did not go where some (any?) expected it to go.

There wasa thing I was trying to allude to yesterday that I'm not sure came across. Presuambly story arcs as p-resented in the tv show would not have been filmed exactly as such , & angela's behaviour at one point would also allude to this.
But what is presented as a story arc is presumably filmed not in order and not in a coherent fashion anyway. But is edited together to seem as though it is. So involvement of children in a story arc is not going to be how they are experiencing things necessarily. But there is going to be a lot of rehearsal and retakes going on which might have the effect of drilling some ideas into heads that might be better without it.
Which is why i was wondering about cognition and how much these children were taking onboard. & if consent revolved around understanding and further to that what a child would understand. LIke obviously there are films/tv being made all the time where a child is in a situation that they are not going to have a full understanding of. Wondering to what extent the presentation has to do with this, like a drama vs a pseudo documentary. THough a child may take things away from either acting situation that may be above their heads or however one wants to put it. & may be stuck with consequent thought/some level of trauma.
I'm just puzzled which presumably means this show is working to some degree.
JUst hoping it isn't leading to those involved needing years of therapy

Actually Angela thing is more that the character does not want to stick to the role she is supposed to be acting out. Worlds within worlds. The making of is another layer on top of taht in which whoever the actress is may be somebody completely different to born again Xian Angela.
Do the family units depicted in this actually exist in the real world like child actor and parents have taht connection in the real world this is filmed in rather than depicts

xp I wouldn’t say the show is “about” the divorce, just that it emerges as a plot in the process of making the show. I actually assume Nathan made this intuitively, following his crazy conceit where it led and working magic in the editing room rather than prescriptively setting out to tell any particular story.

I appreciate that Nathan at least so far doesn’t seem to be giving any interviews explaining anything. Very Lynch/Malick.